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Vice-President

in the government of the United States, the second executive officer of the nation. The vice-president is chosen by the electoral college in the same manner as the president for a term of four years. He receives a salary of $12,000 per year. By provision of the Constitution he is the presiding officer of the senate; but has no vote except in case of a tie. The vice-president may be removed by impeachment. In case of the "removal of the president from office or of his death, resignation or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the vice-president."

The Constitution provided originally that each elector shall vote for two candidates for the presidency, and that the candidate having the greatest number of votes shall be the president, the person having the next greatest number of votes to be vice-president. Vice-Presidents Adams and Jefferson were chosen in this way. In 1800 an ugly tie for the presidency occurred. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr had the same number of votes, and the election of president, as well as vice-president, was thrown into the House of Representatives as provided. To prevent such a state of affairs in future, the twelfth amendment of the Constitution was proposed and adopted. It provides that, in balloting, the elector shall name one candidate for the presidency and another for the vice-presidency.

It is noticeable that with the exception of Adams and Jefferson, who were elected under the old system, Martin Van Buren was the only vice-president who was ever nominated by his party and promoted to the presidency. Roosevelt is not an exception. He first became president by the death of McKinley. In fact, the vice-presidency has never been considered a position comparable to that of the presidency. In the early days of the republic the vice-president was known jokingly as "his superfluous excellency."

In 1841, on the death of President W. H. Harrison, Vice-President John Tyler took the oath of office and assumed the duties of president. Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt became presidents in the same way. John Adams, George Clinton, and John C. Calhoun served two terms each. Of late, vice-presidents have not been reelected. A list of vice-presidents of the United States will be found in the table on the following page.

VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Name. Birthplace. Year. Paternal Ancestry. Residence. Qualified. Politics. Place of Death. Year. Age at Death

1 John Adams . . . . . Quincy, Mass. . . . . . 1735 English . . . . . Mass. . . . . . 1789 Fed . . . . . Quincy, Mass. . . . . . 1826	90
2 Thomas Jefferson . . . . . Shadwell, Va . . . . . 1743 Welsh . . . . . Va . . . . . 1797 Rep . . . . . Monticello, Va. . . . . . 1826	83
3 Aaron Burr . . . . . Newark, N. J. . . . . . 1756 English . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1801 Rep . . . . . Staten Island, N. Y. . . . . 1836	80
4 George Clinton . . . . . Ulster Co., N. Y. . . . . . 1739 English . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1805 Rep . . . . . Washington, D. C. . . . . . 1812	73
5 Elbridge Gerry . . . . . Marblehead, Mass. . . . . . 1744 English . . . . . Mass. . . . . . 1813 Rep. . . . . . Washington, D. C. . . . . . 1814	70
6 Daniel D. Tompkins . . . . . Scarsdale, N. Y. . . . . . 1774 English . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1817 Rep. . . . . . Staten Island, N. Y. . . . . . 1825	51
7 John C. Calhoun . . . . . Abbeville, S. C. . . . . . 1782 Scotch-Irish . . . . . S. C. . . . . . 1825 Rep. . . . . . Washington, D. C. . . . . . 1850	68
8 Martin Van Buren . . . . . Kinderhook, N. Y. . . . . . 1782 Dutch . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1833 Dem. . . . . . Kinderhook, N. Y. . . . . . 1862	79
9 Richard M. Johnson . . . . . Louisville, Ky. . . . . . 1780 English . . . . . Ky. . . . . . 1837 Dem. . . . . . Frankfort, Ky. . . . . . 1850	70
10 John Tyler . . . . . Greenway, Va. . . . . . 1790 English . . . . . Va. . . . . . 1841 Dem. . . . . . Richmond, Va. . . . . . 1862	72
11 George M. Dallas . . . . . Philadelphia, Pa. . . . . . 1792	English . . . . . Pa. . . . . . 1845 Dem. . . . . . Philadelphia, Pa. . . . . . 1864	72
12 Millard Fillmore . . . . . Summerhill, N. Y. . . . . . 1800 English . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1849 Whig. . . . . . Buffalo, N. Y. . . . . . 1874	74
13 William R. King . . . . . Sampson Co., N. C. . . . . . 1786 English . . . . . Ala. . . . . . 1853 Dem. . . . . . Dallas Co., Ala. . . . . . 1853	67
14 John C. Breckinridge . . . . . Lexington, Ky. . . . . . 1821 Scotch . . . . . Ky. . . . . . 1857 Dem. . . . . . Lexington, Ky. . . . . . 1875	54
15 Hannibal Hamlin . . . . . Paris, Me . . . . . 1809 English . . . . . Me. . . . . . 1861 Rep. . . . . . Bangor, Me. . . . . . 1891	81
16 Andrew Johnson . . . . . Raleigh, N. C. . . . . . 1808 English . . . . . Tenn. . . . . . 1865 Rep. . . . . . Carter Co., Tenn. . . . . . 1875	66
17 Schuyler Colfax . . . . . New York City, N. Y. . . . . . 1823 English . . . . . Ind. . . . . . 1869 Rep. . . . . . Mankato, Minn. . . . . . 1885	62
18 Henry Wilson . . . . . Farmington, N. H. . . . . . 1812 English . . . . . Mass. . . . . . 1873 Rep. . . . . . Washington, D. C. . . . . . 1875	63
19 William A. Wheeler . . . . . Malone, N. Y. . . . . . 1819 English . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1877 Rep. . . . . . Malone, N. Y. . . . . . 1887	68
20 Chester A. Arthur . . . . . Fairfield, Vt. . . . . . 1830 Scotch-Irish . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1881 Rep. . . . . . New York City, N. Y. . . . . . 1886	56
21 Thos. A. Hendricks . . . . . Muskingum Co., O. . . . . . 1819 Scotch-Irish . . . . . Ind. . . . . . 1885 Dem. . . . . . Indianapolis, Ind. . . . . . 1885	66
22 Levi P. Morton	1889 Rep.
23 Adlai E. Stevenson	1893 Dem.
24 Garret A. Hobart . . . . . Long Branch, N. J. . . . . . 1844 English . . . . . N. J. . . . . . 1897 Rep. . . . . . Paterson, N. J. . . . . . 1899	55
25 Theodore Roosevelt	1901 Rep.
26 Charles W. Fairbanks	1905 Rep.
27 James S. Sherman	1909 Rep.

Volume V · Aiton’s Encyclopedia